The Beginning
by Lots-O-Love
Summary: We are mentioned in the book, but most times looked over. you were warned that if you dig deep enough you would find the truth ...well consider this your digging. romance T4 vilence
1. prologue

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Ok I used names of real people who are out there... so if you are one of these people then … I'm sorry if I got your character wrong or you are offended! I just needed the names because they were posted in the front of the maximum ride books!

Neways I hope you guys enjoy this cause I worked pretty hard on it! And I already have a lot of it written out! So read review… I can take bad news. Little fact I hate it when people post reviews that correct all my grammatical errors, but if you see them then I missed them so if you do want to point them out in a review that is great cause I can go back and fix it.. I'll just leave my temper out of it; because you guys are just trying to help… enough said here is my story!

Inspiration: life is beautiful, by Vega 4 (check it out!)

Prologue:

This was it! Our only chance to escape had finally come. Every New Year's Day the white coats bring in the babies that survived the treatments, giving us the chance to get outside of the bolted door.

Hadley (also called lee) gave the nod, and I quietly unlatched my cage door, and moved out to unlatch the others.

They held their cage doors closed as I stood next to the bolted door, against the wall, and waited for the nurses who brought in the babies.

My gaze fell on the others. Brigid had her bottom lip stuck out in a nervous pout, her chin trembled a few times but her eyes stayed determined. Andrew sat in the cage next to her, with one of his baby hands curled around the metal door and the other stuck through one of the holes touching Bigid's. His pure baby eyes could not mask the fear he felt.

Maryellen had her head on her knees, and her toes wrapped around the bottom bar of her door, holding it closed. Nervous tears slowly ran from her pale green eyes down her pale white cheeks. Her hair was a blond curly mess. Meredith who was next to Maryellen tried to copy her stance yet keep a brave face.

Griffin's cage was on top of Brigid's. He sat slouched in the dark corner of his crate, using his toes as well to hold his door closed. He wore a calm mask, to hide his jumbled emotions. Wyatt was next to him above Andrew's cage. He laid on his stomach with his legs bent up the back of the crate. He looked really relaxed but I could tell by his muscles that flexed that he was ready to pounce.

Monina (who we call Nina), and Piera, sat back to back with the crate walls between them. They were masters at not just looking calm but being calm as well. Of course if I could see the future like Piera and read minds like Nina, then I might not be that nervous either.

"The future always changes." Piera said as she looked at me. Creepy! Still can't get used to that, but those are our twins for ya.

Then my eyes went to Lee's as I waited for my mark. He showed no fear, or nervousness, just because he was that good at hiding it. But somehow I always knew when he was nervous or afraid.

He nodded slowly and the door unbolted and flew open. A petite nurse walked in pushing some crates on wheels in to the dark room.

I mustered up as much speed as I could and stopped the door from closing. The others sprang from their cages, Lee, and Wyatt took the nurse down and locked her in my cage, while the others piled out of theirs. Bigid put Andrew on her back and ran to my side. The twins grabbed the babies, and Lee grabbed hold of Griffin's arm to lead him out of the room Wyatt and I fallowed from the rear.

You may be wondering why we were so nervous… simple usually six male nurses escorted the one female nurse. But these weren't just any nurses they were... creepy to say the least. Heck creepy enough to make some pretty tough mutant kids cry at the thought of trying to get past them.

Jen had arranged for use to get out without too much of a fight, but we had an understanding that plans don't always go…as planned. But she had held up so far by getting those creeps off our backs.

We took some stairs that lead up to the main part of the building where things got complicated. You see we had always been underground and have never been inside the upper part of the lab. But it was clear, just like Jen had promised!

We made our way to the front of the building and pushed the doors open. Fresh air and rain poured over us soaking us to the bone. Headlights shone bright in front of us and we all froze. "Jen." I sighed and we all took off in a mad dash towards the car that stood about half a mile away from us.

We were half way to the car when flashlight beams blasted us and guns clicking filled the air. We could hear the wicked snarls all around us, and my worst fears were confirmed.

Erasers got their names easily. They had the ability to erase somebody's life without anyone even seeing. They were fast and strong; ending lives in seconds was what they were made for. Half wolf half men, what more could you expect?

Jen's face was just barely visible behind the headlights. She got a determined look on her face and slammed on the gas driving straight towards the men with guns and erasers!

"No!!" our screams were drowned out by gunfire as the car swerved into a tree. It windows all shattered and Jen's lifeless bleeding body was pressed against the dash board.

"Up and away!" Lees voice was fast and strong and we were flying through the trees in seconds. Tears streaming down our faces, mixing with rain drops. The trees provided cover from their bullets.

We finally had our chance to lose them as we came upon a huge body of water. We could see a house at the other side, as lee pointed. "Fly fast." And we did, but there was a catch. We would be in their line of fire for at least a minute. Enough time for sixty bullets to be fired …at least.

Gun fire rang out as we flew from the cover of the trees, and just as I predicted we were in their range. We mostly got flesh wounds from the bullets, but Lee got shot in the shoulder, making it impossible to flap his left wing.

I grabbed his hand and pulled it over my neck, and folded my right wing. I wrapped my right leg around his left and we soared like that for a while then in unison we flapped our wings, his right and my left, leaving his injured wing hanging. Sure we probably looked like a really fat deformed bird …but it worked!

"There! It is safe there!" Piera said as she pointed to the house. None of us second guessed her, and we landed on the roof. "We just have to wait awhile." Piera said, so we did. Lee went unconscious in my arms while we waited, and so I only pretended not to freak out.

Not long after that a big black hummer pulled up the driveway and men dressed in black all piled out. Half went to search around the house and the others banged open the door to search inside. We could hear another voice shouting and glass breaking.

It only took them about ten minutes to search the house and even less to search the outside, of course they missed one spot. They drove away in search of us elsewhere.

I looked at the twins and they nodded, so we piled on to the porch and knocked gently on the door. I still held Lee in my arms his blood making my shirt a permanent red.

"I told you never to come back here you m***** f******! My lawyer is going to have a lot to say about this!" I frowned at the little kids …sure they had heard worse, but I try to guard them from that crap for as long as I can.

I knocked again this time not as gently. "What the hell do you waaaant……" he stopped his sentence once he had flung the door open and had seen us standing covered in our blood. He stood there stunned for about a minute so I decided to break the silence first.

"I'm Gabrielle Charbonnet, and this is my family…we kinda need your help." I lifted Lee a little in my arms to prove my point.

"Of, of course come in." he held the door open and we trudged in.

"Thank you so much Mr.….?"

"Paterson. James Patterson."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2 and a half years later. **

"Congratulations. The fact that you are reading this means you've taken one giant step closer to surviving till your next birthday." I let my breath out slowly. Yeah and now I'm a giant step closer to dying.

Wyatt flipped to the back of the book and read aloud.

"Remember what I said at the very beginning? Now I'm going to give you a choice:

You can put the book down now-but you'll just have some of the story, or look other places for more of it.

Dig even deeper and you may become part of it. The web of answers is out there, if you can find the portal. Be careful and don't say I didn't warn you

-max"

"Yeah dig a little deeper and you'll find … us."

"Wow he has really lost it." Said Nina, and we all looked at her.

"Yeah and how did you not pick up on this earlier, say before he published it??" Griffin asked as he sat in the corner is sightless eyes remaining calm. Nina stuck her tongue out at him but it was lost considering he was ...blind.

"Look! He even put our names in the front!" Piera gawked.

Sure enough there they were right in the front.

Jenifer Rudolph Walsh (she had died to save us) Hadley (who is 17now), Griffin (who is 16), and Wyatt (who is 15) Zangwill

Gabrielle Charbonnet, (me I'm 17 now) Monina, and Piera Varela (they are 16 now)

Then he went on to list the younger ones. We never found out their last names, but he just wrote down what we call them.

Suzie and jack

Maryellen and Andrew

Carole, Brigid, and Meredith.

Carole had died as a baby; she was one of the ones we rescued along with Suzie and Jack who are now two years old. Maryellen and Meredith are both six. And Andrew is now four.

"I think his statistics are a little off." Piera mumbled as she read the little flap on the book.

"What??" everyone asked, except me I felt content to stand against the wall and skim through the book, with an expressionless look. I wouldn't be me if I didn't.

"What? " Piera said looking at them like they were stupid. "He said we were two percent bird…two! You saw lee's x-ray... we have freaking airbags in our abdomen! And wings ….and like freaking amazing eyesight. I'd say we were at least twenty percent bird! Right?"

Everyone gave a gathered "oh…" then shrugged and went back to venting. I smirked and shook my head as I went back to reading my book in my hands. Piera had always been a brain-e-ack.

"So I see you finally found them." James rich voice surprised us and we all jumped... ok well I didn't jump but they did. They looked like kids who had just been caught robbing the cookie jar. James smiled.

"So what do you think?"

"Umm well." Nina started to say.

"We're kinda pissed!" Lee spoke up. He had been quiet the whole time which is totally my role!

"Now they know exactly where to find us!"

"Maybe, but they can't do anything about it without being found out. And people might think that your names are only in the front because you guys inspired me …after all everyone thinks you're my nieces and nephews."

"no they could take us without anyone knowing…how do you think they did it the first time! " Lee was getting really worked up about this after all he had been doing everything he could to keep his flock safe.

"Then stop them." James said challengingly. I finally looked up from my book.

"No!! I know exactly what you are thinking! You want us to go in there throwing punches and being all awesome and shut them down like it is a piece of cake. Well it's not! We won't even have a chance to punch they would shoot us right when seeing us! They aren't stupid! They have weapons they have back up... for us to even consider trying to stop them would mean killing! All of us would be murderers just like them… do you want me to put a gun in Suzie's hands and tell her to shoot someone?" he really isn't fair when he tries to play the guilt card like that. Everyone looked at little Suzie who was playing with Chap (the little orange kitten we found) on the floor. Her intelligent eyes looked up at us.

No doubt she would probably pull a trigger if he told her to.

"I want all of this talk to stop about saving the world! We'll stick to the inspiration story got it?" he looked to everyone and they nodded, except me.

"Gabby?" I shrugged and walked out patting JP on my way. Showing I had his back.

This was a very dangerous task set before us, but something came alive in me when it was mentioned...as if we were made for this! As if this is the reason we didn't die like the others. Maybe we were made to survive dangerous moments.

It was a hell of a good cause to die for if it ever came to that anyways. They were killing hundreds of people every year with their pathetic excuse of experiments. Some years the experimenting gets so extreme that nobody survives. We are the only living hybrids I have ever seen, and just look at the age gap between Wyatt and Brigid! Seven years…so at least seven hundred babies died…because babies are mainly what they use.

If it was a good enough cause for Jen to die for, then it was good enough for me too.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

I made my way down the stairs after the scene in the study, to the bright kitchen. The sun shone through the big window behind the sink that looked over the dark blue ocean. While the sun was till shining here I could see storm clouds brewing up.

I went to the fried and grabbed out the orange juice. Then I grabbed one of the glasses from a cabinet. I filled it to the rim and grabbed a hand full of twizlers from the pantry.

I sat on one of the high bar chairs as I snacked on the twizlers, and sipped the juice. I propped my feet on the bar as I waited patiently. Sure enough a few seconds later I could hear Lee's heavy footsteps on the wooden stairs behind me. He stopped right behind me; I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. His rage was burning holes in my back.

"Sit down you is makin me nervous." I finally said with a smile at my false grammar mistake. He was obviously at a very diverse moment, not sure if he should be mad or curious. I had this affect on some people.

"What are you doing?" he asked instead of sitting. I pulled my feet off the bar top and spun to face him innocently.

"What could you possible mean? I'm just sitting here eating." To emphasize my point I snapped a bite off of one of the twizlers in my hand. He snatched them out of my hand and fixed me with a stern ice cold stare, which broke through almost all my bull crap front.

"Well jeeze if you wanted one you could have just asked." I said trying to pull myself together again. Instead of looking into his eyes I stared longingly at the twizlers that were in his hands that were crossed over his muscular chest.

"Don't play games with me." his tone was demanding and stern.

"You want some orange juice?" I hopped from my chair trying to muster up my courage. I wasn't good at arguing but I had a point to make soon, once I became a little more unbreakable. I tried to open the fridge door but he pushed it shut and held it firm with his hand. I was cornered between him and the counters, my courage wavered. He was leader I wasn't supposed to have a say in things.

He obviously caught on that trying to pry it from me wasn't working so he in return began to play games. "Please tell me you aren't buying into this whole save the world plan JP has imagined up." My eyes were locked on his chocolate brown eyes that looked so deep you could drown in them ... and plenty of girls have.

Some of his dirty blond hair fell over his eyes, and I fought the erge to swipe them away. Control. That is what I need. He leaned in closer against me and whispered in my ear making it almost impossible to think.

"Come on G you can't be going silent on me now." This wasn't fair! He shouldn't be allowed this much control over me. He doesn't play fair, he never has, which is probably why we are all still alive. I almost wanted to laugh at the pathetic increase of speed my heart had at his nearness. In fact had I not finally been ready to speak I might have laughed.

But instead I made the mistake of thinking I could talk to him about what I was thinking. "It's not so much the world that I feel is threatened…yet." I decided to add as an afterthought. "But the lives that are being taken every day."

Ruff images plastered the inside of my eyelids, of a baby soaked in its own blood lying on the white starched sheets of the hospital cribs in the lab. I had been given clean up duty that day. This consisted of feeding the dead corpses to erasers. I had wept and held the small massacred bundle to my chest as I rocked back and forth.

A white coat had found me and whipped me for not getting my work done, yet pity and shame was in the woman's face as she passed the bundle off to another white coat that did off with it. That day still haunted my dreams, same as many others.

Instead f trying to spare me they gave me that job often trying to harden me to death, trying to make me cruel and merciless. I wept every time I saw one lying lifeless and knew it was now just meant to feed their monsters. Their plan had almost worked after a while no tears would come just bitter rage to the once who did it.

"Hundreds of babies have died at the hands of those torturers, and hundreds more will die if we don't do something." My voice was just above a whisper, my face ashen from the flash back.

"If you want to save babies why don't you go stand outside an abortion clinic waving a sign at least they don't come out shooting."

"No your right all the murdering is going on the inside of those buildings." I looked at him accusingly. He had always said it was their choice why should he care what they did with their bodies, and I had always believed in prolife. Maybe it had just been from my clean up duty that I had grown this hard hate for anything that thought it okay to kill babies, yet I didn't hate the mothers who did it. Instead I pitied them.

His face became impassive, and unmoving I could tell he was already determined to keep his flock safe rather than save lives that I felt were worth fighting for.

He began to speak in his cool and controlling tone. "Don't look at me like that. Besides-"

"You of all people should understand! You should be backing me up! I told you the entire thing I had seen I told you what they did in front of me! I was six and had seen things that would drive any normal person insane."

His face softened toward me and I could feel his defenses loosening. "We don't have to fight about this." He had been the only one I ever told about the task that the white coats had given me. This is why we never argued over our difference of opinions.

I saw my opening to stab at his weakness knowing I would feel horrible later for doing it. "What about Jen?"

He looked taken aback at the blow. "Don't you dare go there?"

"She died for these causes are you going to just let it go wasted?" That may have been my biggest mistake all his defenses and rage rose up. As he began to yell, plenty of swear words among other things along the line of who did I think I was to throw that in his face and that she had died to save them not for any cause, he went on for a while, yet through it all what I had said had hit home base .

My heart clenched at the things he began to call me. He had a French back ground and had been taught French at the lab, so in heated moment like these he sometimes went between the two languages. Unfortunately I understood enough to realize the things he was saying. Let's just say that Jen was a touchy topic for him …mostly because he blamed himself for her death, and because she was his mother.


	4. Chapter 3

**Sorry the other chapter was kind of...intense I suppose… this story will have its moments but it's not meant to be gruesome like that. **

**Chapter: 3 **

I have to give it to those scientists; our structures are pretty darn close to perfection. Our wings fold perfectly against our slim curvy backs. We don't look bulky at all, not like the guy off x-men. We just look smooth, ok we can't pull of the anorexic look but we aren't bulky…we just look medium…and muscular. Other than the few long feathers we have to tuck into our pants we look normal. I promise.

I looked at the book on my nightstand. JP had been pretty creative making me a guy and all. He even wrote about my long hair. I'm not a serious as Fang though, quiet but only when it suits me…which is most of the time…but when I have a lot to say I say it.

I walked to my closet and pulled on a black loose t-shit and some black shorts that showed off my perfect olive tone legs. I pulled my hair into a high pony tail and made my way down the stairs.

I reached the kitchen at the same time Wyatt and Griffin did. I could smell the bacon Mrs. Martinez was cooking.

"He won't get up." Wyatt said as he sat at the bar. I shrugged remembering our argument last night. He looked at me weirdly.

"Oh come on nobody else will wake him up in fear of being crushed …please?" -Wyatt

"Im afraid he hates me right now. Sorry bud. Why don't ya take one for the team this time?" He scowled at me.

"Well then now is a good time for you to fix your problems isn't it?" he shoved me towards the north end of the house. For a 16 year old he was pretty dang strong!

Usually I had tons of fun waking Lee up, because well it was fun to fight him, but I had a feeling this wasn't going to go well. Well if I was going to die I might as well have fun in the process. I plotted as I made my way up the stairs in the north wing.

I slowly tiptoed into his dark room. The curtains were pulled shut and huge dark blankets covered them to keep out every ounce of light.

I walked over his dirty clothes that were sprawled all over the floor. My flip flop caught on a pair of underwear and tangled my feet. I fell with a thud I winced as I heard him roll over. The sound of a pillow falling on the floor was all that fallowed. His breath remained even as he slept on. I let my breath out slowly as I untangled my feet. I grimaced and sling shot it across the room.

Then I got up and continued my silent approach to his queen sized bed. I snatched up the alarm clock which is almost always never set, and jumped to the other side of the bed, landing on my back.

He groaned and rolled over, and began to snore. I smiled and placed the clock on my lap. (Interesting fact: I love his bed! It is covered in almost twenty pillows which are all super soft, and his blanket is always really warm.)

I began pushing the noise buttons on the alarm clock. There were many beeping and rings …also a chicken noise. He began slapping the night stand looking for the clock to shut it up. I laughed and he stopped when he realized I had the clock.

He went way under the covers to the end of the bed. I could hear pillows falling as he curled up down there. I pushed the chicken button again. Then I felt his hands grip around my ankles as he jerked me to the bottom with him. The clock was flung from my hand at the swift moment. It clanked on the floor and went silent.

This boy had some unnatural strength. (Like we all did) he pulled me so far down that he was now on top of me…which was semi weird, but we were just friends.

I was still laughing when he buried his face in the mattress next to my face. "So I guess you're not mad anymore?"

"No I'm still mad." He whispered I rolled my eyes and tried to wiggle out from under him. He held me back. "Well you shouldn't be mad…and I know you ate my twizlers last night."

"Shhh…listen." he whispered. ..I sat still for a moment and waited.

His sheets smelled really good. Kinda like that ax deodorant he wears. Do guys like spray their beds with that stuff?

"What are we listening for?"

"sleep." He whispered.

"Nope sorry. Wakie wakie time." I said as I pushed him off me and flung the covers off.

"Just don't turn on the li-"I flipped the switch before he finished with. "light." He groaned and pulled the covers over his head.

I went ahead and left the room as he crawled out of bed to get ready for school.


	5. Chapter 5

I sat with my legs crossed at an old lunch table in the back of the cafeteria. Griffin joined after filling his tray to the top.

"So I guess you and lee solved your…disagreement?" He asked after sitting next to me. I shrug as I sip my lemonade.

"I have a feeling that our disagreement is everything but solved." A wicked grin broke out on my face, and Griffin chuckled.

"What is your plan? …we aren't like all going to die from it are we? Cause to be honest not all your plans are that great. Like the time you decided to make a bomb...in the basement, you remember right? How it went off? "We were laughing in seconds of thinking about the explosion. We had to rebuild the house in the end.

I put my fist in the middle of the table. "You with me?" I ask. He smiles even though he isn't sure what the plan is and bumps my fist with his own.

"What are you guys doing?" Asked Piera, as she walked up to the table, a lunch box hung loosely in her hands. Nina was already shaking her head as she sat down. "Lee is going to kill you." She murmurs under her breath, which makes Griffin grin even wider.

"Screw Lee." He says as he bites into a sandwich. I punch his arm. This does nothing considering he is a lot stronger and sturdier than me. He winks in my direction, and I scowl at him. "You'd be dead if it weren't for him …so if I were you I would be more careful about who you screw."

"Ha that's because you don't screw anyone." He declares. Nina and Piera find this just as funny as Griffin as the three burst into laughter.

"Real mature." I glare at him…which if ya think about it is really useless considering he is blind.

"Lee is comin." Piera says as she cuts up her salad. And in a few seconds later he comes through the cafeteria door with two girls trailing behind him. He smiles over at us and Nina laughs.

"Max would never do half the things he does." She giggled. "I kinda like that he isn't like max though, makes him kinda fun." We nodded nonchalantly

"Boo." I jump a little, as Lee slides in next to me. "What are ya guys up too?" he asked. I take a quick look around to spot his fans. They sat pouting at a table with the foot ball team.

"We were just talking about Jp's book." I murmur as I watch twinkle de and twinkle dumb make goo-goo eyes at lee.

"Great, we can talk about it more later, but not here." I caught on that he didn't expect to talk about it at all anymore.

I get up and dump my lunch in the garbage. I can hear Griffin do the same, and we both exit the building.

* * *

I launch out of the school building pulling at my shirt trying to get free. I finally yank it off, trying to suck in deep breaths.

"What the hell are you doing?" Griffin asks as he trips over my shirt.

"I really really need to fly right now." I say as I stand on a huge boulder outside our school. I leap off into the air. I look down and can see griffin tugging his shirt off as well as he jumps into the air with me.

He is silent as we swoop and sore through the air.

* * *

Hadley sat on a boulder and watched as Gabriella flew through the air gracefully. Her beautiful black wings reflecting the sunlight, almost as if in defiance. She never could just except the way things were. She always wanted to change something.

He shook his head and put his face in his hands. His heart turned rapidly as the vision of her flying beat rapidly across his closed eyelids.

He let his breath out slowly when he heard them land.

"I'll see ya inside." Griffin's gruff voice came from a few feet away. Lee looked up and saw Gabby nod to him as he picked up a shirt off the ground and headed to the building.

"Griffin!" He turned. "That's my shirt you picked up." She said laughing. He smiled and tossed it to her, then grabbed his own and jogged inside.

Lee stood up as she walked over to him. "Is now a good time to talk?" she asked as she sat on the bolder. He nodded curtly.

"Look, even if I was willing to do this crazy idea of saving the world or whatever, I wouldn't be able to do that without knowing 100 percent that I can trust you." He gave her a pointed look.

"You can trust me."

"No I can't. Not with you already making plans behind my back." He heard her breath catch.

"I have not been making plans behind you back…not yet anyways. But if you would just get with the program I wouldn't have to be doing this." She stood up now and got in his face.

"You see! You could have gotten them killed if they even tried whatever you are planning! You need all of us!"

"How do you know that? You don't even know what I was planning!"

"Well if it is like most of your plans then it is doomed to failure." There was a huge stinging sensation on the side of his face as they both stared stunned at each other. He could feel the tingling from her smack.

"Im sor-"

"Save it. You see what I mean you don't think you just do stuff. Stupid stuff" he turned then and walked back into the building.


End file.
